Anonymous at Tue, 4 Jun 2024 22:07:17 UTC No. 16210574

>>16210323
it's the desert nibba what else you gon eat lol

Anonymous at Tue, 4 Jun 2024 22:52:09 UTC No. 16210638

It's trying to ward off the sun.

Anonymous at Tue, 4 Jun 2024 22:57:28 UTC No. 16210650

>>16210323
the spines are probably no big deal to the animals that would eat them whole and it needs spines for the rest of its body so it lost them on the fruits only to the extent it didn't hinder the spread of it's babies

Anonymous at Tue, 4 Jun 2024 23:42:18 UTC No. 16210712

>>16210323
adding to >>16210650

i think birds are supposed to eat the fruit but not bigger animals, so thats why

Anonymous at Wed, 5 Jun 2024 08:08:46 UTC No. 16211195

>>16210323
>why do the fruits of cacti have spines?

I'm taking a guess here, but maybe they're just atrophied, smaller, less dense versions of the spines that cover the rest of cacti? Residual spikes, basically.
Look at those prickly pears, for example, the spines on them are tiny compared to the rest of the plant.

I say this because I just do not see any obvious advantage to having such spikes on their fruits, so maybe they're either insignificant, or they're on their evolutionary way out?
I mean, what is the actual advantage there? Maybe it keeps birds off until the fruit is actually ripe, so maybe it helps with the timing of seed dispersal? Meh... So many plants on earth that don't bother with that and they reproduce just fine.
What about large animals, like deer that live in the desert, maybe their chewing would crush the seeds and not disperse them? It's a possibility, but again, many trees (acorns, carob, pines, etc) live and drop seeds in areas with lots of herbivores/omnivores and they too reproduce just fine.

There is an interesting plant that does use a similar approach in Europe: the chestnut. It drops from the tree encapsulated in an urchin of long needle-like spikes, pic relevant, but there are wild boars in those forests, and so there used to be aurochs, so maybe the spikes keep those snouts away, and so avoid their chewing.

Baffling indeed.

Anonymous at Wed, 5 Jun 2024 08:26:23 UTC No. 16211211

>>16210323
They deter animals that shouldn't eat them and probably protect the fruit while it's developing which regular fruit plants don't really need to do due to being in wet environments.

Anonymous at Wed, 5 Jun 2024 08:30:43 UTC No. 16211213

>>16210712
my guess too, those little bastards would be a nightmare to have embedded in your gums

Anonymous at Wed, 5 Jun 2024 08:40:23 UTC No. 16211219

>>16210323
Either they were more reproductively successful than cacti with non-spiny fruits, or there haven't been any non-spiny fruited cacti and they simply do "well enough" despite having spines.

A trait doesn't necessarily have to be selected for, it is sufficient that it isn't selected against.

Anonymous at Thu, 6 Jun 2024 07:31:27 UTC No. 16213234

>>16210323
have you ever seen a javelina motherfucker

the soft ass pussy animals where you live are probably deterred by spines but i can goddamn guarantee you javelina do not give a single shit

nothing about cactus fruit is too hardcore for the things that actually eat cactus fruit full stop

Anonymous at Thu, 6 Jun 2024 09:43:31 UTC No. 16213405

Spines also gather moisture. Every little bit helps when you grow in a desert.

Vard at Thu, 6 Jun 2024 09:54:24 UTC No. 16213414

>>16213405
Fag